PAWS interpreter implementation

Hi all!

I am interested in how a PAWS interpreter is designed, its main loop, how it executes the adventure…

I have been trying to find an open source implementation, but so far I have found only code of PAWS-inspired parsers, not a PAWS reimplementation.

If any of you can refer me to docs, sources or anything related, it would be of great help.

Thanks!

When you say PAWS, are you referring to the Gilsoft Quill successor or the Python based text adventure system? In actuality something like what like WinPAWS by Douglas Harter would be awesome, but a cross platform executable would be optimal… Minus the redundant registration bs.

NGPaws by Carlos Sánchez might be for you? PAWS inspired, no registration, and compiles to web browsers!

Concerning the OP, I’m afraid the answer is not. You’re stuck with PAWS technical manual, which explains quite a few things, but not them all, and not in a way meant for creating a proper reimplementation (but is a good starting point if you feel ready to figure out the rest reinverse-enginering on your own).

Anyway, Mr Tim Gilberts have lately been active on rescuing his old Gilsoft related stuff, take a look at 8-bit blog HEREand HERE. I know for certain he is busy struggling to recover his more obscure early works, but dropping a line might prove useful!

Thanks everybody for the answers, I suspected that what I was looking has never been done… there are many projects PAWS related, the mentioned ngPaws, the couple paguaglus/superglus (two spanish tools which are based on PAWS but compile to Glulx VM), but no reimplementation.

One that aimed to be as much compatible as possible would be great, it could even be interfaced with current output systems for the Z-Machine and bring PAWS games to the web, smartphones… I know we have emulators of all the machines PAWS supported and we can play the games that way, but this is not the same as having a working cross-platform interpreter.

I’ll try to contact Mr. Gilberts, thanks to the links above I see he has been active lately, even seems to have preserved a disk missing from the DAAD (a multi-platform PAWS-like parser he tailor-made for a Spanish company) distribution!

If I understand correctly, you look for an interpreter for a compiled game made in PAWS, right? But I’m afraid that is an ‘emulator’ because the gsme reultabt is compiled for a machine.
If you are looking for a compiler that takes PAWS code and compiles it for the most compatible way, even browsers and mobiles, that’ ngPAWS ( the successor of paraglús and superglús). Only that you need to tweak a bit the code.

I have published an old game from source code to mobile using ngPAWS and I can say it was a piece of cake.

Yeah ngPAWS is very much a reiteration of the PC PAWS… I made a simple game with it where you play a messenger boy in a fantasy kingdom. It was simple coding and it became one simple storyfile. ngPAWS should be (and then some) compatible to the scripting of PC PAWS by Graeme Yeandle…

So it is not only the interpreter but the story code itself compiled into native code?

What you’ll be able to do with ngPAWS is, take an old PAWS code, tweak it and pass it throw ngPAWS that will make an html with everything working for you to play. You can take that html and post it, make an app with it or publish it. Being able to play that game from any modern platform.

Here, tweaking means that you’ll have to check for screen resolution code, tape or disk code, etc.
I took an old game and took me only one week to have it done (because I wanted to merge the two parts of the game in one).